I’ve started (and deleted) an embarrassingly large number of blogs; like, I’m talking Sauron’s-Army large here. (I also have an accompanying battalion of notebooks with only one used page in each, but that’s another post entirely.)
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And you know what’s even more embarrassing than all of that? The fact that I exhausted myself out on those blogs so quickly, so fully, that I’ve completely forgotten each and every one of them. It’s as if somebody’s cast Obliviate on me; I can’t remember their names or even what kind of content I posted on them.
So, I’m apparently the Queen of Blog Quitting, and you know, if I was going to be the queen of something, I’d rather it not be this. But alas, here we are.
Truly, Madly, Deeply
With all those short-lived blogging attempts, the energy that always accompanied the activation email disappeared soon after I clicked “Publish” on my first post. But all of that changed with the creation of Novels & Waffles. This blog was different from my army of past failures because I did two things. The first was that I managed to create something that I truly, madly, deeply love.
I’ve said this before, but blogs are like vacation homes – they’re this little corner of the internet where you can go to relax, rejuvenate, and just be yourself. As bloggers, we’re the architects of this special little space; we can build the cutesy summer cottage or the rustic log cabin that we’ve always dreamed of. And with Novels & Waffles, I finally created a blog that I loved coming home to. That I loved spending time at. And that, Dear Readers, has made all the difference. That is what helped me to avoid burning out and losing interest.
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Doing Better Doesn’t Mean Doing More
The second thing that helped me avoid blogger burnout was actually more of something that I learned. Let me insert my best Gandalf/Dumbledore/Yoda/ Wise Teacher™ impression here, because I’m about to share with you some serious wisdom. Here it is: doing better doesn’t mean doing more.
This quote by Sharon Eubank from a BYU Women’s Conference really encompasses all that I’ve learned this year; that doing MORE, MORE, MORE won’t make you a better or more successful blogger. It’ll just make you a more stressed blogger. And nobody wants that.
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For most of us, blogging is a hobby, and the last time I checked, the definition of that word was not, “An activity done regularly in one’s leisure time to induce more stress and anxiety.” No. For most of us, blogging is something we do for fun, but if we’re constantly trying to do everything – to be active on every single social media platform, to participate in every blog tour, to read every ARC, to answer every comment – it’s not going to be fun.
Catch That Key
Learning to recognize what is and is not feasible for me has been KEY to avoiding blogger burnout. It has been KEY to not losing interest and actually sticking with blogging this time. That being said, keys can sometimes be elusive little buggers, as Harry learned the hard way when he tried to retrieve the Sorcerer’s Stone.
For example, when I first started blogging, I was under the impression that for every person who commented on my blog, I was 100% ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED to comment back on theirs. Like…if I didn’t comment back on their blog or respond to every like in kind, I would create a time paradox, the results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe. Which is obviously just plain ridiculous.
Basically, I was so afraid to commit some horrific blogger faux pas, that I let my fear consume all my time and my thoughts. I let it consume me. Like, I actually lost sleep over this. I had multiple stress dreams where I woke up at two in the morning, on the brink of an anxiety attack, all because I was afraid that I’d forgotten to comment back or like a post on some kind soul’s blog. Afraid that I had mortally wounded somebody’s feelings. Afraid that I would never be a good blogger. In short, I fell into the trap of thinking that doing better meant doing more.
It’s Okay To Let It Go
Now, obviously commenting back is a great thing to do – it shows love and support to the bloggers who took the time to read your content, and I try to do it when I can. I’m in no way trying to throw shade on this; I love my readers, and I love reading their comments, and I want them to know that. But for some reason, commenting can be a really triggering thing for me. (I bite my thumb at thee, Incomprehensible Emotions!)
Eventually, I realized that if I wanted to avoid blogger burnout, if I wanted to avoid letting Novels & Waffles join the army of abandoned ghost blogs, obsessively stressing over this wasn’t going to work. In the end, I decided that I would let it go; I would comment back only when I felt like it, not just because I felt compelled or pressured by some nebulous force to do so. This taught me that sometimes, less is more. Sometimes, it’s okay to let things go (cue the Frozen music). And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Kat’s Insider Secrets to Avoiding Blogger Burnout
#1) Create a blog that you absolutely love coming home to. This applies to everything about your blog: its appearance, its content, its name, etc. If it doesn’t bring you unadulterated joy, if you’re not Elizabeth-Bennett-and-Mr.-Darcy-in-love with it, then you’ll be more likely to become uninspired and lose interest.
#2) Doing better doesn’t mean doing more. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that doing more things is going to make you a better blogger. Whatever your definition of a “better blogger” is, I’m of the personal opinion that it shouldn’t be tied to a certain number of followers or page views. Instead, it should have a direct correlation to your happiness level, and if something isn’t making you feel joy, then it’s okay to let it go. Nobody needs that negativity in their life.
Have you ever experienced blogger burnout?
How do you avoid it? What are your tips and tricks?
Share your advice in the comments!
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Totally agree about your point regarding it’s okay to let it go! Sometimes a bit of hiatus can be the perfect medicine. I have had my own share of hiatuses in this blog as well.
Great points, Kat! And I agree with your thoughts on commenting. I try my best to comment back, but sometimes I don’t have time, sometimes I forget and sometimes there just isn’t a lot to say if you don’t have something in common with that blogger. I think most bloggers feel the same and understand.
SCHEDULING! It’s been my life saver. I’m working full time so I don’t have as much time as I did in my previous blogging lives. I work when I can and get it scheduled so I don’t have to worry about much during the week.
Ahh! Fantastic post! I think because of the scope of the internet and social media we bloggers feel like we need to be active everywhere to keep up and feel relevant and everything…when what matters is OUR happiness and not how involved we are.
My blog is kind of small and I don’t get too many comments so commenting back isn’t much of an issue to me, lol :D I don’t exactly consistently blog either…oh dear…I come back in spurts of activity and hide again so maybe that’s the way I avoid burnout. I just take a break in that case.
“A blog you love coming home to” wow I love that 😍😍
Great post!
(www.evelynreads.com)
This is an incredible post Kat!! I’ve been on a blogging hiatus for months and I really want to get back to it. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Brilliant post as always, Kat! It took me a while, but I eventually realized that YES, doing better, doesn’t mean doing more! I used to stress about posting 7 times a week (I honestly don’t know how I managed to do this for most of 2018 lol) and commenting back on every blog that liked my posts. It quickly became more of a task than a hobby, so I took some major step backs on 2019. Even though I’m not quite as active sometimes in the blogosphere as I’d like to be, I’m much more satisfied with the balance I’ve found between my life and blogging! <3
I experience blogger burnout almost every second of every day.. hell, I’m experiencing it RIGHT NOW even though I just posted something yesterday. IDK IDK I just feel like I have to be marketing myself all day every day and be ruling all the platforms but like… I feel like I’m sorely failing at everything at the same time (aka Instagram, Twitter, and Goodreads) LMAO. And then I always have this weird feeling like I *have* to be doing something to expand the blog or like be working on posts or commenting on posts and then I feel upset at myself because I end up not doing anything? It’s wild and I love this post, a lot. I really do love my blog, I think? I love how I can just… talk and write all the random stuff but I also do feel the pressure to make my blog posts interesting or everyone’s not going to read it anymore????? IDK??? lmao
Oh gosh love your point about doing better doesn’t necessarily mean doing more! I need to make this my mantra! And I also really relate to your point about commenting back- so I’ve realised I just can’t be on it all the time. Excellent post!
I love this post so much, bookmarking it and will re-read it in time of need, that’s for sure. This is such brilliant advice, too. I often come very close to burning out and, if I’m trying to take better care of myself, I also, well, anxiety and somehow feel like I just can’t step away like that either and it’s both stressful and annoying and ugh. I love your advice about having a blog you love to come home to, this is definitely something that does the trick for me, especially with your new designs you made for me, they really comforted my love for my blog as a whole and, whenever I feel the burn out coming on, this somehow makes me feel better, to see it like that and to see how hard I work for it every day, too.
Fantastic post! <3
Awesome post! :) Thank you.
Thank you for this amazing post, Kat! I, personally, have never experienced a burn-out. Idk, I’m just obsessed with being consistent, so not meeting my average number of posts a month is a no no for me. But I did realize that sometimes less is more as well! I always pressure myself to blog hop or comment back because I think that if I don’t do it, people will just forget about me. There are some bloggers out there whose comment games are on point, and I kinda wanna be like them. But I know that if I did that, my comments would become impersonal and short. I prefer to engage with content, even if it’s not of a high quantity.
Ohh, I felt that bit about creating a blog that you love! I think that’s how I’ve managed to post consistently all this time. I’ve also started a LOT of other things in the past. They weren’t blogs, but instagram accounts, which is weird because I don’t even use instagram anymore. Those past instagram accounts weren’t about books, so I quickly got tired of them and disappeared out of thin air. Seriously, I think you can still find them if you look. But, finally creating something based on books feels so right, and I’m so happy that blogging has stuck for half a year already!
These all look like they are amazing points, and ones I will be sure to keep my eyes out as I continue blogging!
– Emma :)
[…] Kat from Novels & Waffles Shares Her Insider Secrets to Avoiding Blogger Burnout! […]
Absolutely love this and could not agree more!! Over the years, as I’ve continued to create my ideal space, write when I want and HOW I want, and utilise my inspired-productive-genius bursts of activity, I’ve found what makes me happy about blogging and why I started doing this in the first place xxx
brineandbooks.com
I really love and appreciate this post! I’ve been blogging since 2014, but not over-working myself/stressing myself out is still something I have to remind myself of. We’ve (me and my co-bloggers) made a move to wordpress, and I adore our new blog, and wanted to build it bigger and better than our old one ever was, and while doing that I’ve been really tiring myself out. Especially the doing better doesn’t mean doing more advice hits close to home, and it’s just helped me make a decision, so thanks for that! 💜 When I’m close to a burn out visiting others’ blogs can help, but so can trying new things/posting different things than the usual. And of course I’ve taken a hiatus before when life got hectic, and I just wasn’t feeling like blogging at all.
Aww, don’t feel too bad about deleting a lot of blogs – I personally have 2 abandoned blogs and 90+ blog post drafts which I don’t think I’ll ever get to. :/ But Novels and Waffles is just so good, I think you definitely did the right thing!
I really needed this post! I’ve been beating myself up over not posting very much lately. When I first started gaining followers, I was posting 3-4 times a week, but now I only have time for maybe once or twice a week. But you’re right! It’s also about quality over quantity. If I’m making better posts than back when I would just shove all my posts out (and I am!), then I shouldn’t worry about posting less! Thank you for this validation!
Another amazing post, Kat! 😊💕
I love, love, love this post! Especially since I got really overwhelmed when I returned from hiatus and saw all the unread posts waiting in our inbox. But I reminded myself that I did not have to comment or even read all 100+ posts because that would be impossible. Instead, I made sure to slowly get back into things and read the posts that I thought I would enjoy the most!
I try to use this philosophy in all aspects of my blogging. I’ll only publish posts I enjoy and try not to do anything halfheartedly! When I look at the blog and I’m proud of what I see, it only makes me want to do more!
Great post and so very important!
[…] My insider secrets to avoiding blogger burnout – Novels & Waffles […]
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[…] Kat @ Novels and Waffles shares her secrets for avoiding blogger burnout! […]
This is a great post! I’ve had a lot of blogger burn-out before and I completely did the same thing the first blog I owned, trying to visit everyone who followeed, liked and commented on my blog. I followed back every blog that followed mine too which led to my feed filled with blog posts I didn’t want to read and I couldn’t find the ones I did. I was so overwhelmed that now I make a point of doing blog visits on a particular day when I’m not doing anything else on my blog. I have days I add posts to my blog and a day or two a week that I will spend my ‘blog time’ visiting others. It’s the only way I cope and nobody seems to mind :) Love the tips!
[…] Kat @ Novels and Waffles talks about her insider secrets to avoiding blogger burnout […]
I totally agree with your points, Kat! Trying to follow everyone back and forcing myself to return all comments was never sustainable for me, especially since I prefer honest and genuine engagement — so I only comment when I have something to add. Hopping feels so overwhelming sometimes, and it is okay to scale it back when you need to.
Fantastic post and oh so true. I (mostly) let myself relax when it comes to my blog nowadays. I actually went on a vacation without blogging or responding to comments or anything (gasp!). I do still try my very best to comment back, but I don’t put the same kind of pressure on myself that I used to. If I don’t reply to a comment for a couple of weeks, no one dies. If I don’t post much in a week, the internet doesn’t explode. I mean, you’d think it would, but … nope. :-)
I absolutely love this! All of it is so true. I actually stopped commenting back on every blog that comments on mine right away. Instead, I make sure to eventually check out their blog and follow if I like it. Then I’ll just blog hop and comment if something connects. Otherwise, I always felt like my comments were forced. I also stopped feeling like I needed to post ALL THE TIME. I suck at posting consistently now lol Great post!
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I do work hard to respond to comments on my blog. I know I don’t always feel like I have anything much to say but if someone has gone to the effort of leaving a comment then i feel I should show my appreciation.
[…] It’s not something I want but it’s something that just happens and reading Kat’s post about blogger burnouts and how to avoid it helped eased my mind and kept me from succumbing into […]